Improvement in seed-drills



tite-ri gratte tt-w1 @tim can-1n Avvia-Entra. or D o'NI-PHAN, KANSAS.'

Lam Patent No. 98,213, daad naamw 21, 1869` IMPROVEMENT IN SEED-DRILLS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patentand making part ofthesame.

lb all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORRINA. WHEELER., of Doniphan, in the -county ofDoniphan, and ,-in the' State of Kansas, have invented certain new anduseill Improvements iu Seed-Drills; and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had -to the accompany-V lines y y and z z of tig. 3; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged portion of the adjustable bottom of saidseed-box. l

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts inA each of theigures.

My invention belongs-to a. class of devices termed seed-drills; and y Itconsists principally in the means employed for raising and lowering' theldrills, and regulating the depth of the same, yand in combinationtherewith, for throwing the seed-wheel shaft in or out of gear.

Italso consists in the means employed for regulating the quantity ofgrain sown, as is hereinafter fully described. r

In the annexed drawing- A and A represent the ground-wheels, .suitablyjournaled upon the ends of a metal axle, B, which,

immediately inside of each wheel, entends upward at a right angle to thejournals,and then across, parallel .with the same, so as to form uponeither end of said axle a crank.

Suspended from the central portion of the axle -B' is the drill-frame,composed of two strips, C and'O, placed parallel with each other andwith said axle, and secured together by means of two or more crosspiecesD. v

'.Ihe drill-shares E are attached, at their front ends, to the strip C,and from thence curve downward' and rearward beneath ythe rear strip C',to which each is connected by means of a support, F.

G represents a seed-box or hopper, of the vusual form, resting upon andsecured to the strip C', in which a shaft, H, provided with therequisite number of seed-wheels h, is suitably journaled.' v

A semicircular cavity, fi, corresponding in lengthv lto the seed-wheels,islv cut beneath each, -in th'bottom of the hopper I, and in the bottomof each cavity is provided a round hole, fi', opening into the seed-tubsK, which, being connected at their upper ends to said hopper, extenddownward, and are secured, at their -lower ends, to the rear ends of thedrill-shares.

As thus constructed, the seed is carried into the cavities tf by thevseed-wheels, and from thence dropsl through the openings i into theseed-tubes, and is deposited within the furrow made by the drill, and itwillbe readily seen that 'the quantity sown will be governedby the'capacity of said openings In order that the size of the openings 'i' maybe varied, as desired, a false bottom or slide, L, is placed immediatelybeneath the real bottom I, andso arranged as to move freely lengthwiseof the hopper.

Cam-shaped openings, I, are provided in said slide,

Iimmediately beneath, and corresponding with the openings t" in thebottom, which, when said slide is placed as shown in tig. 3, do notobstruct the free passage ofthe grain; `but if it be moved to the`right, the size of the openings contained therein with relation to thosein the bottom, will be correspondingly decreased, and the flow of thegrain obstructed.

.The adjustment of the slide is effected by means of a lever, M, pivotedto the rear side of the hopper, and connected, at its lower end, withthe rear edge ot' said slide. i f' The upper end of the lever' M,- beingpointed, serves as an index-finger, and indicates, upon the are or scalem, the degree of adjustment of said slide, and consequently the quantityof grain beingE sown.

Secured to, and projecting upward from the axle B, near its centre,1engthwise, is a lever, N, by means of which said axle may be partiallyrevolved, the devices suspended therefrom correspondingly rased'orlowered.

An arc or quadrant, O, attached to the strip O,

and tothe seed-box G, and provided wit-h a series of adj usted as tobring said gear and pinion into engagement with each other at suchtimes, so that when said drills are raised, .the seeding-devices areat'the 'same timethrown out of gear, whereby the heretofore separateoperations required, in order toproduce this resnit, are avoided, andgreater convenience and ease in the management of the drill secured. t

Having thus fully set forth the nature and merits of my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Tli'e means employed for elevating or lowering the drills, and forthrowing in or out of gear the seedingdevces, consisting of thecrank-axle B and level' N, and, in combination therenfih, the quadrantO, or its equivalent, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Also, the :in-allgemein: oft-lie slide L, provided with the cam-shapedopening l, the'bottom I, and thelever M, substantially as and for thepurpose shown.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hund andseal, this 30th day of August, 1869.

ORRIN A. WHEELER. [L s.] Witnesses:

' HARRIsoN H. WHEELER,

HARVEYl HAMLIN.

